[Ads-l] Antedating of "Freebase" (Cocaine)

[Shapiro, Fred]

freebase (OED 1980)

1978 San Francisco Chronicle 11 Dec. 5/1 (Newspapers.com)  The "hottest thing going" this season Burge said, is an elaborate set of gear called a "free base system" for removing impurities from cocaine so that it can be smoked in a water pipr.

1979 Greenfield (Mass.) Recorder 15 Feb. B8/2 (Newspapers.com)  The expensive white powder can easily be converted to a smokeable form, called free base, with kits sold in paraphernalia shops.

Fred Shapiro

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